New "Frauenförderung" Leadership

Christina Pöpper and Adrian Altenhoff New Co-Coordinators

October 2007

The fall semester 2007 will bring new leadership to the Frauenförderung: by finishing their PhD, respectively, Eva Schuberth and Ruedi Arnold are passing the torch to Christina Pöpper, PhD student with the Chair for Information Security, and Adrian Altenhoff, PhD student with the Institute for Computational Science. Both graduated from ETH and are looking forward to the new challenge. The Frauenförderung was brought to life in 1993 by Computer Science assistants, since 1999 the Department of Computer Science is supporting the initiavtive by freeing the coordinators from teaching duties. An Interview with Katja Abrahams.

Ruedi, you've been with the Frauenförderung since April 2003. Is it hard to say good-bye?

Yes, definitely. Four years is a long time. I had great fun during that time and what I will miss most is the Schnupperstudium. When I leave ETH at the end of October, a little melancholia will certainly accompany me.

What is your conclusion after four years with the Frauenförderung?

The numbers show that we're on the right path: half of the women beginning studies in Computer Science each year are former Schnupperstudium participants. And we derive a certain pride from the fact that our program is being emulated: the University of Hamburg and the University of Kiel have followed suit and started similar programs.

Compared to other European countries, Switzerland is still way behind in terms of the number of women studying technical subject matters. We have about 10% women in Computer Science. In other countries such as Spain and Italy - countries where one would tend to think that women hold more traditional roles - the female percentages in the technical areas are higher. That is astonishing. In Switzerland, social factors like upbringing, culture and traditional values prevent women from catching on in so-called male domains. For a real change early intervention starting in elementary school would be required. Currently, however, a creative and innovative approach to the problem is lacking. Studies have shown that girls profit from gender-separated classes in technical subjects and natural sciences. That would be one possibility of augmenting the female precentage in technical study programs. Our contribution is the Schnupperstudium: participants get realistic insights into the study program and job profiles. They can then share their experiences with their personal environment. We are hoping to positively influence the public image of Computer Science by this "multiplication effect".

Why is it important to have female students in Computer Science?

Through time, I personally have found more and more reasons why our activities are sensible: we all know that computer sciene nowadays permeates everything. Computer scientists, therefore, have a vast influence on products and research areas of the future. IT development is currently a male domain and male wishes/ideas dominate. IT, however, must resepct all aspects of society and the "female view" is very important.

The fact the industry and the economy are looking desperately for qualified personnel plays a central role. It's irresponsible to have the female potential - which constitutes 50% - idling on the sidelines. In addition, women usually possess high social competence and better "soft skills" than men: they can empathise and relate better and are good listeners. These are important characteristics for team work which is the most common form of working in computer science. Also, studies have shown that the work climate is much better and productivity increases when work groups consist of equal parts of men and women. So women are an "added value" to computer science, no matter how you look at it.

Christina, you studied at ETH. What were your personal experiences as  one of the few female students?

As a student, I already profited from the various offers of the Frauenförderung. getting in touch with other women but also professors was a very positive experience. There was really nothing negative. If I had questions about any kind of topic during my studies my fellow students were always very helpful. Now, in my PhD studies I almost resent more that I am part of the female minority. On our side of the floor I am the only female PhD student and since my work and research areas are now more defined/restricted I need to be more active to keep in touch with other women.

Eva, you've managed to make time for this interview inbetween two job application interviews. You studied in Passau and did your PhD at ETH. What were your experiences?

I believe that you are still kind of the "odd one out" as a woman in computer science. In a positive sense; my experiences were stictly good. You will always find help if you have questions and you're better known than male students: most professors know your name and are willing to lend you an ear. Even now, while looking for a job, I have the feeling that women have a certain "bonus of the exotic". However, as a female one must also learn to stand one's ground. In meetings male opinions tend to dominate: In order to seem as competent as a man, women must simply work harder. I could imagine that problems arise when women try to have both a family and a career since there are very few, if any, part time jobs in computer science nowadays. But this will certainly change: there are too few graduates such that the job market will have to increase its flexibility and take into consideration the needs of qualified women with children.

You were with the Frauenförderung for a year and a half. Any special memories?

It was an interesting time which allowed me to make small changes and make my ideas come alive, e.g. the presentation seminar for women which was not available at Passau. The Schnupperstudium was a lot of fun; to teach and see that you can really make a change by motivating and inspring the students.

Adrian, what made you - as a man - come to work for Frauenförderung?

During my studies, I barely noticed the existence of the Frauenförderung. I started to look into it only when Christina asked me whether I would join her as the new coordinator. During the last Schnupperstudium in August I was partially involved. I simply think it's a good experience to do these kinds of things. The women during my studies were very open and did a lot to better the atmosphere during the lectures. As a whole I found it normal and natural to have women studying alongside us men and that is how it should be.

Christina and Adrian, what are your immediate plans for the Frauenförderung?

Adrian: Over the years, our offerings have grown into a big, colorful bouquet which we plan on keeping up and expanding: we will offer various activities for our computer science girls, e.g. a mentoring program for first semester students, a hardware and Linux crash course, rhetoric seminars and the talk series "Female Computer Scientists at Work". We will also host fun events such as movie nights and regular apertitifs.

Christina: One of our highlights is the Schnupperstudium for high school students which we offer twice yearly and which boasts participants from all over Switzerland. We would like to extend the program by inviting girls from German and Austrian schools as well. There are surely a number of ideas which can still be put into practice and we are looking forward to that!

More Information: http://www.frauen.inf.ethz.ch